Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to compositions, methods of use and kits for an automotive protectant exhibiting beneficial surface adhesion and application characteristics. These surface adhesion and application characteristics are measured and quantified as Vertical Cling of a composition. A composition with a very high Vertical Cling parameter, greater than 7, runs off a vertical surface very quickly which makes it difficult to get uniform coverage of a composition on vertical, sloped or angled surfaces which are common with automotive surfaces. A very low Vertical Cling parameter, less than 1, means the composition has very strong surface adhesion on vertical surfaces and will not run. Having a very low Vertical Cling parameter, it may not be beneficial because the composition may not be sprayable or it may not be easily spreadable or may not be easy to apply to surfaces and obtain uniform coverage.
The present invention also relates to a protectant composition which forms an sprayable aqueous silicone emulsion containing at least one surfactant and a rheology modifier, a silicone, and water. The composition exhibits a Vertical Cling parameter of between 1 and about 7 at a temperature of about 25° C. The present invention also relates to a method of cleaning, providing gloss and/or protecting an interior automotive surface by applying the inventive composition directly to a soiled or cleaned surface and then spreading the composition across the surface with a substrate. The substrate may be a nonwoven material comprising cellulosic fibers, modified cellulosic materials, synthetic fibers or a mixture of cellulosic or modified cellulosic and synthetic fibers. The synthetic fibers are selected from the group consisting of: polyethylene, polypropylene, and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and any mixture or combination thereof. In an alternate embodiment, the composition may be applied to an automotive surface using a pre-loaded wipe or substrate which is loaded with a protectant composition. Most particularly, the present invention relates to an automotive protectant and/or cleaning kit which employs a deformable container with a sprayer device that enables application of the composition to the surface to be treated where it may be spread across the surface by hand using a substrate, where the protectant composition exhibits a Vertical Cling parameter of between 1 and about 7 at a temperature of about 25° C.
The present invention pertains to sprayable silicone-containing protectant compositions used to enhance gloss and aid in protecting automotive surfaces. More particularly, the present invention pertains to protectant compositions which are aqueous silicone emulsions which provide uniform gloss and protection to surface without dripping or running. In addition, the inventive protectant composition usually contains less silicone, but yet provides comparable or higher gloss as compared to other prior art and/or commercial formulations.
Description of the Related Art
Silicone-based automotive protectants are now established products in the marketplace. By the term “automotive protectants” is meant those products which are applied to vinyl, leather, plastics, rubber, and other interior and exterior surfaces of automobiles, trucks, and other vehicles to improve the gloss of such surfaces. The protectants also to protect such surfaces from the damaging effects of uv rays, sunlight, heat, moisture, etc. Although described as “automotive protectants”, the term “automotive” is not meant as a restriction on the use of these compositions, which may be equally useful on boats, trains, planes, outdoor furniture, indoor furniture etc., and also for a variety of interior uses.
The protectant may be sprayed directly onto the surface to be treated, or may be first sprayed onto a cloth, pad, or the like and then applied to the intended surface. Evaporation of the aqueous continuous phase leaves an organopolysiloxane coating which may, in some cases, penetrate polymer substrates, ameliorating loss of plasticizers from such surfaces due to exposure to sun and heat. The protectants are often formulated with UV absorbers as well, and the net effect is not only providing a glossy appearance to the vehicle or other product, but also in a general prolonging of life of leather and vinyl surfaces to which the protectant has been applied.
While lotion and paste-type protectants are available, these have not met the acceptance of sprayable formulations, due not only to their increased difficulty in application to the surface, but also due to their propensity to leave a buildup of protectant at seams, crevices, and on highly textured surfaces such as crushed leather-like vinyl. Examples of such paste and lotion-type protectants are provided by U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,890, wherein protectants containing both an aminofunctional organopolysiloxane and a polydimethylsiloxane, a film forming polymer to increase abrasion resistance, and morpholine, necessary to activate the film forming polymer are disclosed. These protectants must be left on the surface for a considerable period before wiping off the excess, and maximum effectiveness is achievable only with a second coating. The disadvantages of such preparations are readily apparent.
In Canadian published application CA 1,176,828, paste-type, organopolysiloxane emulsion-based polishes which contain a silicone-soluble UV absorbent are disclosed. These polishes have a high proportion of organopolysiloxane, greater than 20 weight percent solids, and an organic thickening agent which provides the paste-like character of the polish and serves to maintain the high level of silicone solids uniformly dispersed. However, these compositions are not sprayable, and therefore suffer the drawbacks of other pastes, creams, and lotions. Moreover, they contain a high proportion of relatively expensive organopolysiloxane.
The active ingredients of automotive protectants include silicones, which are typically organopolysiloxanes. Organopolysiloxanes are relatively expensive, and a typical protectant may contain from 20 weight percent to 40 weight percent organopolysiloxane as an aqueous emulsion. Despite the relatively high amount of organopolysiloxane, studies demonstrate that only a relatively small amount, i.e. 10% to 20% of what is applied, actually ends up on the substrate. It would be desirable to be able to lower the amount of organopolysiloxane in automotive protectants without lowering performance, or to obtain increased performance at the same level of active ingredient. Even with the same organopolysiloxane content, improved performance may allow the application rate to be lowered, resulting in greater economy to the purchaser.
Two patents, U.S. Pat. No. 6,221,433 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,206,956, by Muntz et al., describe siloxane automotive protectant compositions which contain about 10% to 20% by weight of organopolysiloxane and having comparable or improved gloss performance to comparative examples with 20% to 40% by weight of organopolysiloxane. The siloxane automotive protectants described in the Muntz patents, require that the viscosity of the emulsion be less than about 4000 cP to maintain it sprayabilty. Although these protectant formulations are an improvement over the previous protectants, there is still an opportunity to lower the amount of siloxane in the formulation to levels of less than 10% to achieve a cost savings while maintaining good gloss performance. In addition, these formulations described by Muntz have a viscosity of less than 4000 cps and do not exhibit good vertical cling and have a tendency to drip and run off of surfaces.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved protectant compositions and methods of using said protectants which will provide good gloss and protection of automotive surfaces with low amounts of silicone and which have improved application and vertical cling properties so that they can be uniformly applied to surfaces without dripping and running.